Below the Salt Marsh Surface: Visualization of Plant Roots by Computer-Aided Tomography

Linda Blum,Earl Davey

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2013.49

Abstract

Below the Salt Marsh Surface: Visualization of Plant Roots by Computer-Aided Tomography

Highlights

As sea level rises, salt marshes become subtidal mudflats unless soil surface accretion occurs at rates fast enough to keep the marsh from being submerged (Brinson et al, 1995)
While the complicated interactions among accretion processes are poorly understood (Murray et al, 2008), production of roots and rhizomes is critical to maintenance of salt marsh soil structural integrity and marsh-surface elevation
Estimates of the abundance of roots and rhizomes are essential to understanding these complex, nonlinear interactions among salt marsh accretion processes and to sufficiently predict how salt marshes will respond to sea level rise

Summary

Introduction

Salt marshes become subtidal mudflats unless soil surface accretion occurs at rates fast enough to keep the marsh from being submerged (Brinson et al, 1995). While the complicated interactions among accretion processes are poorly understood (Murray et al, 2008), production of roots and rhizomes is critical to maintenance of salt marsh soil structural integrity and marsh-surface elevation.

Results

Conclusion